APJ Abdul Kalam dissociates himself from Rs 2000 crore Nalanda University project

NEW DELHI: Efforts to set up a world-class university at Bihar's Nalanda district, where the ruins of an ancient centre of learning exists to this day, has been plagued with teething troubles, with former president and visitor APJ Abdul Kalam withdrawing from the project and progress is at snail's pace.

The project, with a budget of more than Rs 2,000 crore, was set up through the Nalanda University Act, 2010. The project was the brainchild of Kalam, and was endorsed by the 16-nation East Asia Summit. In 2007, the government set up a Nalanda Mentor Group, chaired by Prof. Amartya Sen and people like Prof. Meghnad Desai, Prof. Sugata Bose and NK Singh as members, among others. The same group constitutes the governing board of the university.

On Thursday, Kalam's office informed news agencies that he is no longer associated with the project. The reasons for his withdrawal are unknown. Kalam was the visitor of the university and this meant he would officially appoint the chancellor and vice-chancellor of the university.

In a move that has become subject of some controversy, the Nalanda Mentor Group recommended the appointment of Gopa Sabharwal, a reader of Sociology at New Delhi's Lady Sriram College, as the vice-chancellor of the university. The ministry of external affairs, which is handling the project, accepted Sabharwal's appointment but she has been functioning for a year as VC-designate as the visitor had not formalised the appointment. Historian Ramchandra Guha and political scientist Pratap Bhanu Mehta had reportedly turned down the job, before it went to Sabharwal.

Patna-based academics and journalists have raised questions about the ability of the relatively lesser-known VC to attract top-flight academic talent to the university. Sabharwal told ET that the Nalanda Mentor Group was given a free mandate to appoint whoever they deemed fit to build a world-class university, and the guidelines of the University Grants Commission or the Human Resources Development ministry did not apply.

Sabharwal said she didn't know if other candidates were in the fray or what process the group followed.

ET could not reach members of the Mentors Group. NK Singh and Desai were overseas and unavailable for comment. Calls to Kalam's office went unanswered.

The university has just three full-time staffers, including OSD Kalpana Sharma. The Bihar government has gifted 450 acres of land at Rajgir in Nalanda district. The university currently functions out of an office in New Delhi's RK Puram neighbourhood.

Sharma said the Bihar government has given the university an office in Rajgir, but the facility had no water supply or sanitation.

"We hope to get the office there functioning as soon as possible," Kalpana Sharma said.

According to Sabharwal, the geographical survey of the land is currently on and an international design competition will soon be launched for the campus. Efforts are also afoot to build a boundary wall around the land.